Car-coupling



(No Model.)

B. W. BRUNTON. OAR courmue,

No. 515,419. Patented Feb. 27, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT onion.

DAVID W. BRUNTON, OF ASPEN, COLORADO.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 515,419, dated February27', 1894.

Application filed November 27, 1893. Serial No. 192,113. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DAVID W. BRUNTON, asubject of the Queen of Great Britain, residmg at Aspen, Pitkin county,Colorado, having declared myintention to become a citizen of the UnitedStates, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inCar-Couplers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates more especially to that class of link and pin carcouplers which are used upon freight cars, and the object of theinvention is to render the operation of couplingentirelyautomatic andthereby eliminate the risk of life and limb incident to hand coupling asordinarily practiced. Of course, I am well aware that this object hasbeen attained with greater or-less success by many prior inventors, and,hence, my invention consists not broadly in any and all means for accomplishing this object,but in the particular construction of drawheadwhereby it is adapted to receive safely the shock of coupling and insurethe descent of the suspended pin to engage the link; and in theconstruction and arrangement of a gravity-block which holds the link'inposition in one drawhead to enter an opposed drawhead in which a similargravity-block supports the pin in position to enter such link, and alsoin other details, all as I will proceed now more particularly to setforth and finally claim.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is aperspective view. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section of a pair of mycouplers in position to couple, the section of the left hand couplerbeing taken in theplane of line ls-cc, and

the section of the right hand coupler being taken in the plane of liney-y, of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a top plan view, and Fig. 4: is a perspectiveview of the gravity-block detached.

The drawhead a may be made as a casting or forging, or in any otherapproved manner, and supplied with the drawbar b in like manner; andwith the sill abutments a rising from its top, which are braced withbraces c, 0, but, of course, the invention is not limited to thesedetails, and they may be varied as necessity or convenience suggests.

The drawhead is provided with the vertical pin-holes d, d,and from theupper wall or top of this drawhead 2. lug e depends in line with and inthe rear of the upper pin-hole, fora purpose presently appearing. Theupper portion of the mouth of the drawhead is made with a stoutintroverted lip f, which is notched at f in line with the pin-holes, andthe lower portion of such month is made with a plane lip or roll graised above the level of the floor or bottom of the drawhead andinclined upwardly and outwardly to aid in supporting the link in theposition shown in Fig. 2.

h is the gravity-block hereinbefore referred to. This block has somewhatthe outline of the block letter J, and has its stem slitted at h, andthe bottom of this slit is provided with a seat or step h and its noseor end h is notched at 71. The lower curved portion of the blockadjacent to the nose is thickened so as to cause-it to gravitate towarda vertical position. The outside face of this block is curved to conformto and fit over the inside face of the lip f, and the inside face ofsaid block is curved to correspond with and fit the cavity r. The blockis suspended within the drawhead by a pin is arranged in front of thecoupling pin-hole and passed transversely through the block and thedrawhead and extending outsidethe drawhead for facility of insertion andremoval in case of necessity. It will be observed that inasmuch as thebulk of the weight of the gravity block is at its bottom and in the rearof the plane of its pivot, the tendency of the block is toswing forwardtoward the mouth of the drawhead, and this tendency is arrested by theblock coming to rest upon the lip f, thus insuring the stability of theblock as a pin-support when so used.

Z is a link and m is a pin of any approved construction.

The operation is as follows :A link is inserted in a drawhead andsecured therein by the pin, as usual, but the link rests about midway ofits length upon the lip g and its end within the mouth of thedrawheadand in the rear of the pin is borne down upon by the gravityblock as shown in the left hand coupler in Fig. 2, and, hence, since thefloor of the drawhead is lower than its lip g,- and ICO the block bearsthe inner end of the link down to the floor, the outer end of said linkis ele vated into a plane substantially coincident with the center ofthe mouth of a similar drawhead on an opposed car at equal or nearlyequal height, and therefore the said link is in correct position toenter such opposed drawhead. If the opposed coupler, as is representedto be the case in the right hand side of Fig. 2, have its pin withdrawnuntil its point is in line with the slit h of the gravity block, saidgravity block will automatically swing forward until arrested by the lipf, and bring its pin-seat 7L2 into line with the pin, and the pin maythen be permitted to rest in said. seat. With the parts in thisposition, and the opposite coupler having its link arranged as shown in'the left hand side of Fig. 2, if the two couplers be at substantiallyequal height and be caused to approach, the

link will'enter the right hand coupler, strike the gravity-block on ornear its point or nose and push it from beneath the pin and allowthepin' to fall through thelink in front of the gravity block and intothe bottom pin-hole of the drawhead and so couple the two couplers. Theshock upon the gravity block occasioned by the incoming link will betaken by the drawhead through its cavity i, and being thus distributedover a large surface in which no one point is more heavily taxed thananother, and the pin being relieved of the necessity of sustaining theWhole of the shock, 'theliability of bursting or breaking the drawheadand distorting the pin 71; is very greatly reduced, if not whollyescaped. The lug 6 acts to prevent the bottom or point of the couplingpin from being carried backward into the drawhead by the gravity blockand insures its escape from such block when a link is entering; and thelip f supports the coupling pin in proper position when under heavystrain, and prevents a crooked pin from binding in the slit in thegravity block. It is'to be observed that the pin is supported upon thegravity block in such manner as to be sustained against accidentaldisplacement,

for it will be noticed that when the gravity block is arrested by thelip f, its weight continues to tend to impel it forward, and hence thepin is crowded against the lip and cannot escape in that direction; thelug e prevents the escape of the pin rearwardly and the lip and lug inconjunction with the arms of the gravity block formed by the slit h,prevent it fromescapin g laterally. It will be noticed also that thenotched outer end or nose of the gravity block embraces the pin andguides it into the lower pin-hole. The curved upper lip of the drawheadsmouth and the mouth itself are so shaped and of such proportions,substantially as shown, as to permit the gravity block to be readilyinserted into and withdrawn from the drawhead, and without Weak eningthe drawhead or impairing its usefulness by other and unnecessaryopenings which would admit rain, snow and sleet. The

space within the drawhead, as shown in Fig. 2 and by the dotted line 1,2, 3, Fig. 3, is of such shape that the gravity block rests continuouslyon its bottom surface when the block is at its lowest position, andcontinuously along its upper surface when theblock is in its highestposition, thereby enabling it to withstand the strain which might be putupon it by a crooked link or otherwise. By the construction of drawheadand gravity block herein set forth,the forward end of the gravity blockis inclosed and therefore the gravity block cannot be struck by anadvancing link until the end of the link is already underneath the pin.Since the floor or bottom of the drawhead is level, any water cominginto it will drainout through the lower pin-hole. I have thus produced avery sim-fl ple, durable and efficient automatic coupler, well adaptedfor freight service and interchangeable with other link couplers inordinary use.

The details of construction may be modified, as is obvious, withoutdeparting from the principle of my invention as hereinafter claimed, butI believe that an adherence to the lines set up in the drawings andherein described will achieve the best results.

What I claim is 1. A car coupler of the pin and link variety, comprisinga drawhead provided with an internal curvilinear cavity and havingitsmouth provided with an introverted upper lip, a lower lip elevated aboveits floor and bottom, vertical pin-holes, and a dependinglug in the rearof the upper pin-hole, combined with a gravity block constructed toconform to the curvature of the cavity of the drawhead and suspended insaid cavity and provided with a pin-supportin g seat, substantially asdescribed.

2. A car coupler of the pin'and link variety, comprisinga drawheadhaving its mouth provided with an introverted upper lip and-a lower lipelevated" above the floor or bottom of the drawhead and a depending lugin the rear of the upper pin-hole,con1bined with a gravity blocksuspended within the drawhead upon a removable pin passed transverselythrough both, and having a coupling pin seat, the said gravity blockcoming to rest upon the introverted lip and supportingth'e pin inposition to be engaged with an incoming link, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a car coupler of the pin and link variety, a drawhead havingvertical pin-holes, an introverted lip at the upper portion of itsmouth, notched adjacent to the pin-hole and extending on both sides ofit, a lug arranged at the rear of the upper pin-hole and a gravity blocksuspended in said drawhead, in front of the pin-hole and above the'lip,slitted longitudinally in the plane of the pin-hole'and provided with acoupling pin seat, whereby the coupling pin may be supported in positionfor coupling and be sustained while so supported against displacementand its cs cape from the block insured when the block is moved frombeneath it by the entrance of an opposed link, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a car coupler of the pin and link variety, a drawhead havingvertical pin-holes, a mouth provided with an upper introverted lip, andan internal cavity of substantially the dimensions and shape shown,combined with a curvilinear gravity block having its pivot arrangedforward of the coupling-pin-holes and adapted to support the couplingpin in position to be coupled and to hold the link in similar position,the gravity block being adapted to be inserted into the drawhead throughits mouth, substantially as described.

5. In a car coupler of the pin and link variety, the drawhead having amouth provided with an introverted upper lip and a curvilinear cavity inthe rear thereof, combined with a pin and link-supporting gravity-blockpivoted within the dra whead and curved on one side to fit to the innerface of the introverted lip and to rest thereupon and curved upon itsother side to fit to and extend continuously of the curved cavity of thedraw-- head, substantially as described.

6. In a car coupler of the pin and link variety, the drawhead having amouth provided with an introverted upper lip and a curvilinear cavitybehind the same, combined with the gravity block pivoted in said cavityforward of the coupling pin hole, whereby the forward end of said blockis inclosed, slit for the passage of the pin, having a seat to supportthe pin in position for coupling and having its nose also notched toguide the coupling pin into the lower pin hole, whereby the said gravityblock cannot'be struck by an advancing link until the end of the link isalready beneath the pin in position to receive it, substantially asdescribed.

7. In a car coupler of the pin and link variety, a drawhead having asubstantially level floor or bottom terminating at the mouth in anelevated roll or lip, and also having an introverted upper lip having acurved cavity behind it, combined with a gravity block of substantiallythe construction set forth, pivoted within the said cavity in thedrawhead in front of the pinholes, having the bulk of its weight in aplane in the rear of its axis, and adapted to impose its weight upon alink laid in the drawhead upon such roll or lip to hold up the outer endof such link in a position to enter a similar drawhead at asubstantially equal elevation, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day ofNovember, A. D. 1893.

' DAVID W. BRUNTON.

Witnesses:

WM. B. RAFF, HARRY G. Kocn.

